Remains of Mengele Rest Uneasily in Brazil

By MARLISE SIMONS, Special to the New York Times

Published: March 14, 1988

Correction Appended

SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 10—
A quiet institution in the heart of Sao Paulo is troubled by a skeleton in its closet, that of Josef Mengele, the Nazi extermination camp doctor.

Long one of the most hunted war criminals in the West, Dr. Mengele is now unwanted, both by family and Government officials. Brazilian authorities have stored his bones reluctantly and, they say, temporarily in the Sao Paulo Institute for Forensic Medicine.

''The family wanted nothing to do with the remains,'' said Dr. Rubens Maluf, the institute's director. Even after the Brazilian Federal Police had insisted, Dr. Maluf said, Josef Mengele's son, Rolf, and other members of the family in West Germany refused to accept the remains for burial there. ''They would not give in,'' he added. ''They wanted the bones to stay in Brazil.'' Remains Found Outside City

The family's refusal came in 1985, the year the body of Dr. Mengele was discovered in a falsely marked grave in a suburban cemetery of Sao Paulo. It took extensive studies by international experts to conclude that the remains of a man drowned in 1979 were indeed those of the dread figure from Auschwitz. There, in 1943 and 1944, Dr. Mengele reputedly selected about 400,000 victims for the gas chambers and others for his grotesque medical experiments.

Dr. Maluf, a Brazilian coroner of Lebanese descent, is now the official custodian of the Mengele bones. He keeps the skeleton locked away in a safe in a small, windowless room, its components separated in a dozen or so plastic bags.

Although Brazilian officials last presented some parts of the body as evidence at a 1985 news conference, since then they had only disclosed the whereabouts and showed the remains to selected experts.

This week, Dr. Maluf surprised a visiting journalist when he had the skeleton unwrapped and arranged in its natural posture on a table in the library. Fragments, such as the left hand and part of the feet, were missing. Silence for Fear of Theft

''For a long time we were afraid to keep the bones here or talk about them, Dr. Maluf said, as he adjusted the skull and pointed to original teeth and others newly made by investigators. ''Someone could try and steal them. While the investigation was going on, this was vital evidence.''

The issue of what to do with the remains has been a delicate one for Brazilian officials. ''After Rolf Mengele refused them, the Brazilians have been stuck with them,'' a foreign investigator said.

Rolf reportedly visited his father in Brazil in 1977. Their relations were described as strained. He returned again two years later to confirm reports that his father had drowned.

Brazilian authorities believe that they must preserve the bones as ''important historical evidence,'' according to one official. But they have also not wanted to rebury them, fearing that if the site were discovered, it might become a shrine for neo-Nazis or a target for thieves. Scrutiny From Many Nations

Moreover, as long as controversy over Dr. Mengele's identity persists, people still ask to see the remains. Among them, Dr. Maluf said, have been experts from the Smithsonian Institution and envoys from West Germany and Israel.

The latest high-ranking visitor was Murice Rogez, chief pathologist of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. An official familiar with the visit said that late last year, Dr. Rogez spent two weeks ''going over all available evidence with a fine-tooth comb.''

Officials here said that before his departure, Dr. Rogez told Brazilians as well as Israeli and American diplomats that he was convinced that the remains were Dr. Mengele's.

While no forensic experts have said they disagreed with the verdict, others are still skeptical. Some groups in the United States and Israel continue to examine reports of sightings, and at least one group has offered a reward for finding the ''real'' Dr. Mengele.